Okkervil River
Black Sheep Boy

THE REVIEW

Okkervil is the name of a Russian river that flows near Saint Petersburg, but it's also the name of a young band from Austin, Texas! I got to know them when I almost stumbled upon their concert by chance, and as often happens when I end up at a concert without knowing anything about the band… I liked them! It might be because I approach the music I don't know with a different spirit, or maybe it was the venue, the company, or the total lack of expectations. One thing is certain, they immediately impressed me, and at the end of the concert, I bought this album.

Okkervil River effortlessly blends genres like folk and rock, creating a very personal, unconventional style. "Black Sheep Boy" is an example of this. It is with this album (the fifth of their career) that Okkervil River returned on tour in Europe. The record contains eleven tracks, eleven different stories told with the sound of guitars, accordions, mandolins, Wurlitzers, trumpets, and flutes, all accompanied by sounds from everyday objects. Listening to this album means entering, or rather bursting into, the sometimes magical, sometimes romantic and melancholic, sometimes terribly real and dramatic world of singer and songwriter Will Sheff. It alternates ballads like "A King And A Queen", where the mandolin stands out with its vibrant melodies as Will tells us of a sad love and distant times, or more rock-oriented tracks like "Black" (my favorite) and "For Real", where the singer tells of himself and his anxieties, or more romantic pieces like the first track "Black Sheep Boy" (a tribute to Tim Hardin) and the seventh, "A Stone".
All of this is narrated by a particular voice, sometimes raspy. A real storyteller's voice. And as is fitting for a good storyteller, when he finishes his tale, you wish he would start again from the beginning, because maybe those stories are a bit yours too, or simply to savor that music, that voice a little longer!

“I ain’t trying to be no good, I’m happy” - Richard Pryor